10 1 J 



BETTER FRUIT 



Fa.er 



the world. In the .stories of the Arabs, 

 in the stories of the Persians, the apple 

 always appeared as a life-bringing, as 

 a health-giving medium; even in the 

 old poems and songs of the Scandina- 

 vians of Northern Europe the apple 

 appears in the same light. It was by 

 constantly partaking of the inde- 

 structible apple of Idun that the (lods 

 in Valhalla retained their innnorlality. 

 In historic times the crabapple, so 

 called on account of its sour, biting 

 taste, like the nip of a crab, was found 

 all over Europe. It was first brf)ught 

 to America, as 1 have told you, but the 

 real origin as far as tlie historians can 

 discover was exactly where the Bible 

 puts it, that is to sa\. the first apple 

 frees were ])rohal)ly found somewhere 

 in that district back of Palestine and 

 .\sia Minor, in a rou.ah way toward 

 Messopotamia, where the Paradise of 

 the Bible, as you remember, was lo- 

 cated. Thence the\ were slowly spread 

 over Europe, being taken out first, of 

 course, by the Pelasgians, Greeks and 

 Bomans and by them extended through 

 1-urope. The Romans first brought the 

 cultivated apple to Britain. .Still the 

 typical English apple has a French 

 name, and therefoi'e must have been 

 brought in by the Normans after their 

 invasion. The English "pippin" comes 

 from an old French word, pepin, which 

 means a seedling. From England the 

 Puritan forefathers of New England 

 brought their favorite fruit to these 



shores, and thence the apple steadily 

 traveled west. 



It is very interesting to remember 

 that the birthi)lace of the apple tree is 

 also the birthplace of the Caucasian 

 race, and thai wherever the while man 

 has moved west on his trip around the 

 world, to Greece, to Rome, to Northern 

 Europe, to I'ngland, to the I'nited 

 States, he carried the apple tree with 

 him. The apple tree, in its march 

 through civilization, typifies the ad- 

 vance of the white race, its original 

 friends in its native home. Once in 

 America, it crossed the Allegheny 

 Mountains with the pioneers. I won- 

 der how many of you in Ohio, in In- 

 diana and in Illinois have read the 

 story of .lohnnie .\ppleseed, the crazy 

 man of the colonial days, who traveled 

 about with a piece of sacking as his 

 only clothing, bare footed, respected 

 by the Indians, who regarded him, 

 being insane, as one stricken by the 

 Great Manitou above and let him pass 

 safely. Wherever he went, he planted 

 apple seeds all through the Middle 

 West, and the first crop of apjjles grew 

 up wild and without cultivation. Cross- 

 ing the Mississippi River, the apple 

 went with the Mormons into Utah, 

 where some of the most splendid 

 apijles raised in the world are grown 

 today. Thence it spread to California, 

 Oregon and the Pacific Coast, and at 

 last, as our American white soldiers 

 crossed the Pacific Ocean to the Philip- 



pines and joined the West to the East, 

 so the apple tree has sent its fruit 

 across the Pacific Ocean from the West 

 to the East and American apijles raised 

 in the most western country in the 

 world are now being exported to Asia, 

 returning to their ancient home — the 

 ai)ple tree, with the white race, having 

 completed its march around the world. 

 You have been very jjatient, gentle- 

 men, in listening to this somewhat 

 rambling and 1 fear r;ither uninterest- 

 ing and desultory talk. 1 thank > mi 

 ver\ much for your kindly reception. 

 In these days of terror and horror and 

 bloodshed across the seas, which can- 

 not but have their ell'ect also upon our 

 own country, 1 can only give you as a 

 sentiment today, one of those old songs 

 that used to be sung in other and hap- 

 pier days, centuries ago, before free 

 trade had ruined Engli.sh agriculture 

 and horticulture, and when the farm 

 laborer in the old country as well as in 

 New England lived a happy and con- 

 tented life. Do you know the old song, 

 "Speed the Plow": 



I^et the wealthy and great. 



Seeli .splendor and state: 



I en\'y them not. I declare it. 



I sr'ow my own lamh. 



My chickens and ham; 



I shear my own wool. 



And I wear It. 



I ha\'e birds, I have bower.s, 



I ha\'e fiuits. I have flowers, 



Th.o lark is my morning alarmer. 



So my jolly boys, now 



Sing: "God speed the plow": 



Long life and success to the farmer! 



Observations Upon the Stems of Apples 



THE steins of apples receive com- 

 paratively little attention from 

 fruitgrowers and horticulturists 

 except in idenlilication of varieties, 

 packing of fruit and in judging fruit 

 exhibitions. But in all of these in- 

 stances the form and length of the 

 stems is of considerable importance. 

 (Certain varieties are more or less dis- 

 tinct from others because of the extra 

 length of the stems of the fruits. Rome 

 Beauty, for example, has a characUi- 

 istically long, slender stem, while Box- 

 bury Russet and the Newtown Piijpin 

 have short stems. In the i)acking of 

 fruit in boxes, the short-stemmed apples 

 are more desirable tlian long-steiiinied 



l''nn'Hl: 1 — .\pph' Cluster I I'om lialdwin Tit 

 C'rnttnl iipplc \\ith short, tliick stem. 



By Maurice A. Blake 



ones, as it greatly lessens the danger 

 of stem bruises or punctures, and in 

 some cases it is almost impossible to 

 prevent some stem bruises in the pack- 

 ing of such varieties as Bome. It 

 is in the judging of fruit, however, 

 that difi'erences of opinion in regard to 

 the proper form and length of stem for 

 any variety arises. The term "form" 

 appears upon nearly every score card 

 designed for the judging of apiiles. .\nd 

 this term, as inter])rcted by most 

 judges, incluiles the shape and length 

 of the stem and the form and dei>th of 

 the cavity and basin of an apijle, as 

 well as its general outline. In fact vari- 

 ations in the stems of apples of any 

 single variety are more or less asso- 

 ciated with variations in the form of 

 the cavity and sometimes of the whole 

 ap])le itself. 



Most judges will agree that an apple 

 receiving ti perfect score for form 

 slioulil be one that is exactly typical in 

 shape for the variety. It is then only a 

 matter of deciding what is the true 

 form of each variety in order to secure 

 uniformity in judging. This is whei-e 

 dilliculty often arises, however, be- 

 cause there is considerable vai'iidion 

 within the variety, and this variation 

 is not confined to the apple as a whole, 

 but also extends to the stems. The 

 Baldwin, for example, may liave a 

 short, thick stem and ii nan'ow, abrui)t 

 cavitv in some cases, inid a long stem 



with a much wider and less abru|)l 

 cavilx in other specimens. This varia- 

 tion is also c|uite common with Tomi)- 

 kins King and some other varieties. 



If we are to judge the form of an 

 apple, including the character and 

 lenglli of stem, according to the true 

 Ijotanical type for the varietN the ipies- 

 tion then arises, why do we have Bald- 

 win apples with dilTerent types anil 

 lengths of stems, what causes the vari- 

 ation :ind which is llie normal type? 

 Observations of a number of varieties 

 of apples growing at the New .lersey 

 Agricultural ExperimenI Stalion in 

 .lulv, li)l-l, revealed the following: 



I'niciu: 2 Cluster of Kin;i .\pplcs at the tit) of 

 :i lotifi \\\'\'^ li;Mit;in}4 dfiw n\\;n-d. .Viuilc at left 

 with short stem was fiill>' exposed to liHht. 

 \\ hitc llio till II- a|)t)les at rinlit " itii lon^ stems 

 \M-,i- on the side of the cluster facilli; the tree. 



